A Boundless Moment
by Fanatic4Fiction
Summary: A continuation of the story "Those Who Favor Fire" on LJ's site. No flames please! R&R! Oneshot.


All characters go to the genius that is L.J. Smith, you are my savior from the horrors of damaged vampire/witch novels. This particular oneshot was inspired by Robert Frost's poem.

NOTE: This is sort of a continuation of the story off of LJ's site. Check it out! R&R!

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><p><em>And now—give in? Give up? When he had just seen that look in her eyes?<em>

_Never. Never._

Ash's forehead crinkled as he attempted to find a solution to the rather detrimental current situation. If this had been a year ago, he would've simply said "Hey, I can't die so who the hell cares?" But now, with his masochistic personality faded, he couldn't help but try to fix everything- all for her. All for the one person who didn't even know her sense of importance to him.

He gazed down at those cobalt eyes, of which were a bit frightened and dazed, and nodded. "We need to find a way to land this thing safely- or at least get it low enough to jump out of it without feeling like we're hitting cement."

Captain Raleigh, or better yet Kourtney, gave one quick nod of approval and returned back to the gears.

"Ash, I'm- I'm sorry about what I did to you." Mary-Lynnette said, biting her lip. "This is all wrong."

Ash shook his head, squeezing her in his arms. He wanted to make her feel safe but to be honest, it was to reassure him she was here- in his arms again. "It's not your fault, we went over this." he referenced to the coversation they'd just had moments ago.

"But it is. If I hadn't sent you away. We'd have had more time together. We could've-" she stopped and cleared her throat. "I could've told you every night about how much I loved you and we could've just layed there under the stars and talked." she let out a frustrated groan. "There's always some way for me to ruin something good."

"Hey, stop that." he responded, shifting her so he could look right at her face. "First of all, I think we'd do _a lot_ more under the stars than just talk. And second of all, we'll get through this and we'll win this stupid apocalypse and we'll be fine."

_You're such a liar,_ he told himself, mentally wishing he could stake himself to rid of all the false hope he was now feeding her. But he had to make her believe there was some way to get out of this. After all, if she gave up he was pretty sure he'd follow suit.

She snorted despite the current chaos that was happening all around them. Her blue eyes looked at her left hand, now sporting the ring Ash had given her. Marriage. That's what he'd asked for. And the worst part was that if they died here tonight, they'd never get to it. With that in thought, tears overflowed her eyes and she let them fall graciously onto her lap.

"Can I ask you something?" she gasped, trying to recollect herself. Mary-Lynnette felt him nod.

"Anything."

"When you first found out we were Soulmates, did it ever cross your mind that you'd ask me to marry you?"

He was silent for a few moments, then shook his head. "No. Honestly what first crossed my mind was how I could sever the connection. It-It wasn't right." he struggled to find the right words,chewing on his tongue before continuing. "I was a vampire. A selfish, arrogant, masochistic monster who could've cared less about humans. And you- you were this human girl who was so stubborn and straight forward... But at the same time cared so much for your friends and family. We weren't compatible." he chuckled at the last word, remembering that time in Briar Creek when she'd mentioned about their compatibility. "But then you kissed me and my feeling took control. And I was selfish, I thought about just taking you away from there right then. I even threw in the idea of turning you into a vampire, just so we'd be together forever."

Mary-Lynnette listened and with every example he gave, her grip on him tightened. Never in a million years had she thought he'd be so insightful and... Well, _that_ in tune with his feelings. She'd always thought he'd at least tune down the drama instead of keeping it bottled in.

"But then I remembered you were human. A person- not my personal paradise. I couldn't just keep you by my side and away from your loved ones because you made me happy. It was absolutely wrong. You needed to grow up some more, and you know very well how much_ I_ needed to grow too. Mare, you were 17. I couldn't just ask you to end what you were so accustomed to. Tearing you away from your friends, Mark, and your dad... You probably would've kicked me until I came to my senses. " she smiled softly at this without saying anything and letting him go on. "You wouldn't have had a normal life if I'd taken you away back then."

"You...Agreed to leave because you thought I needed to live like a normal person?" she said and he nodded. "Ash, having been tied to three vampire sisters is not normal. Is that one of the reasons why you never protested?"

"Yeah, basically."

"Why?"

"Because I was so bound to you, I would've done- and I still will- do anything you say. But I'm still selfish Mare, I may have redeemed some of my past sins, but I'm still very much selfish, specifically with you. I didn't want to change you and have you defy what nature wanted you to do." he paused, glancing at the madness happening all around them. Captain Raleigh was shouting at one of the crew members who was navigating them around the attackers. "You know, live without rush, get married, have kids, then peacefully die... You can't have that with me Mare. Well- you technically could but... It wouldn't exactly be _normal._ And the kids part, we'd have to rush that a bit considering if you wanted to live forever and we'd have to change you while you were still a teenager.."

"Ash," she breathed, trying to end his rambling. It was a newfound habit, something he did only when he grew silently frustrated with his way of trying to be honest, and much to Ash's dismay, it happened a lot around her. "I get it."

"What?" he asked.

"I understand what you've been talking about. You didn't have to... I wouldn't have been mad or anything if you'd taken me away from Briar. I love you."

"But I did. One thing I learned from being with Circle Daybreak was the knowledge that you can't have what you want. I couldn't just change you because you completed me- and yeah, that's cheesy- because like the rest of the world, we needed to grow up and be sure this is what we really want." he gestured between them. "Is this what you really want? Even if we do die tonight?"

Mare gripped his hand, looking into his ever-changing eyes. He'd done so much to prove himself as a changed man... And he'd succeeded, surprising them both. So as the shots rang outside and Raleigh tugged on the consoles furiously, she just couldn't tear her eyes away from the man sitting in front of her. Yes, no longer a boy but a man. A man who'd faced the hardships of not having his other half by his side. But now that they'd reunited, his heart sparked with a bit of hope.

And it was that hope that told him to keep his Mary-Lynnette just the way she was. Human, strong, confident, courageous, stubborn and absolutely beautiful to him. It was that in this moment he'd truly been sure of his question of marriage. This single, most profound, boundless moment.

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><p>P.S: Don't hate me if it sucks! I'm sorry, it's late but I really needed to get this story idea out of my head... It wouldn't let me sleep.<p>

-Fanatic4Fiction


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